London, 20 May 2014: PayPoint has announced three important developments to reinforce its position as a market leader in multi-channel payments.
Launch of PayPoint Mobile and Online
PayPoint has merged its internet payment service provider and mobile phone payment businesses, previously trading as PayPoint.net and PayByPhone. The new business, known as PayPoint Mobile and Online, combines PayPoint's depth of expertise in online payments with PayByPhone’s consumer insight gained as one of the world’s most successful mobile payments schemes. PayPoint Mobile and Online provides solutions that cover the entire end-to-end transaction, from engaging the consumer to processing the payment.
With offices in London, Bath, Welwyn Garden City, Paris, New York, and Vancouver, the new business already has 7 million customer registrations for its mobile services and handles almost £5 billion in consumer payments annually.
Dan Salmons, Managing Director, PayPoint Mobile and Online, said: “Customers want to pay by mobile or online with a convenient, simple, seamless experience. As a result, many organisations are suddenly finding they need more sophisticated payment solutions that can keep up with the rapid changes in technology, consumer behaviour and regulation.
"By combining our unrivalled expertise in mobile and online payments, we can manage payments from app to bank, making it simple for organisations to resolve their payment needs. Our modular platform means we can rapidly develop a wide range of solutions from home energy to urban mobility, online gaming to financial services. We believe we are that rare thing: a payments company that gets consumers, and a mobile company that gets payments.”
New multi-channel payment proposition
PayPoint Mobile and Online will also be instrumental to PayPoint Group’s move to develop a series of multi-channel payment propositions. PayPoint already enables retail cash payments through its 36,000-strong retail network across the UK, Ireland and Romania. By combining these retail networks with the new Mobile and Online business, PayPoint will enable organisations to give their customers a seamless choice of when, where and how to consume and pay for services, whether via mobile, online, or retail channels.
One of the first applications of the new integrated capability will be Smart Metering, enabling energy providers for the first time to give their customers a seamless choice of paying in cash, or via mobile or online channels.
Research commissioned by PayPoint shows that consumers are increasingly demanding a choice of payment methods. The research, carried out by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), found that non-card non-cash payments (which include mobile payments) are set to grow from 9.3 per cent of all retail transactions today to 19.6 per cent by 2019, and that retailers could gain by accepting payment methods which their customers prefer, rather than restricting payment methods.
The study finds that preference for mobile commerce is strongest among younger consumers, but it is not their sole preserve. A third of people aged 18-30 have bought goods and services via their mobiles in response to offers or advertisements, while a fifth of consumers aged over 55 agreed they would make purchases via their mobiles.
Scott Corfe, managing economist at Cebr, commented: “Organisations can no longer afford to restrict the payment options available to consumers. Our research has found that people of all ages and backgrounds want fast, simple payments, and will vote with their feet when their expectations are not met.”
New brand
PayPoint also announced a refreshed, dynamic brand identity for the group to reflect the new multi-channel positioning. All the group’s businesses will adopt a new logo, which has been designed to work effectively across all channels, modernising its identity from its traditional retail heritage. In time, the new logo will extend to consumer facing services, initially through a new PayByPhone mobile app later this year. There are no immediate plans to change the signage on its retail outlets.
Speaking at the launch event in London, Dominic Taylor, Chief Executive, PayPoint plc, said: “Consumers want convenience, whether it is flexibility to choose how to pay, or simplicity in how their apps work. We aim to ensure that our clients can extend these new choices to their customers without having to rebuild their platforms or educate people how to use them, We are uniquely placed to provide the full multi-channel consumer service and payment experience.”
Download Dan Salmons’ presentation here.
Download Dominic Taylor’s presentation here.
Ends
Peter Brooker
Head of Corporate Affairs
PayPoint
01707 600356 / 07900 418960
[email protected]
PayPoint Press Office
Sarah Musselbrook / Patrick Yiu
Brands2Life